Doctors think Gayle Dean is a “medical miracle”. The 72-year-old believes so too.
The grandmother of 10 has survived cancer five times and had 11 organs removed in the process.
“Numerous doctors have told me they have not known anybody to have five different very serious cancers and have survived them,” Mrs Dean told news.com.au ahead of Cancer Council Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea next week.
“I am thankful to be alive.”
Breast cancer at 38
Mrs Dean’s battle with cancer began on what started as a typical day shopping with her friend in 1991.
While out in Sydney’s Dee Why, the then 38-year-old and her friend passed a medical centre with a sign across the front.
“Free mammograms today,” it read.
“We’d never heard of them before,” Mrs Dean recalled. “We thought that might be fun.”
Instead, a doctor broke the life-altering news that she had a four-centimetre malignant tumour in her left breast.
“I was in total shock, I had no symptoms whatsoever,” she shared.
“I was 38, I was feeling well. I’ve never had a major medical problem of any kind and yet it was there. But that’s the nature of cancer. It’s insidious.”
A single mother of three, Mrs Dean immediately thought of her children.
“My main motivation was to live for them and I’m a fairly practical sort of person. So my first reaction was, “what do I have to do to beat this?” – I’ll do whatever it takes.”
A week later, she was in hospital having a mastectomy to have her breast removed.
“I remember when I was in the hospital praying through the night and saying to God, “you have to let me live because no one loves my kids like I do and no one can bring them up as well as I can”. I kind of argued my case. When I look back, I’m so glad I did.”
After the surgery, Mrs Dean went through six months of “very heavy” chemotherapy, which saw her lose her hair.
Even after the surgery and treatment, there was still a thought in the back of Mrs Dean’s mind that she would be handed another cancer diagnosis.
“For many people with cancer, it’s like a double way of thinking, you try to think I am a miracle of healing, it’s gone fantastic. But at the same time, you think, “am I a ticking time bomb?”
Having regular mammogram checks on her other breast every six months offered some reassurance, she said.
A second breast cancer diagnosis
Five years later, in 1996, during a mammogram, doctors told her she had cancer in her other breast.
“I was very upset. I couldn’t believe it had come back on the other side … And again the doctor said straightaway, we have to take your breast immediately. So again, I was in hospital within a week having it taken.”
This time, at least, Mrs Dean knew what she was dealing with.
“After the first cancer, I went into fight mode. I always saw cancer as an enemy to be beaten. I didn’t see it as a killer or something to be terrified of. (I thought) I’m going to overcome it.”
And that she did.
But the chemotherapy from years earlier had taken a toll and ‘messed up her systems’.
In 1999, she went to the gynaecologist after experiencing vaginal bleeding to check everything was fine.
“The doctor sat on the bed and he had tears in his eyes. And he said, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m just so sorry. But the lining of your uterus is full of cancer’.”
Mrs Dean was sent to a surgeon and underwent a total hysterectomy to remove the uterine cancer.
“I think I was very tired of cancer at that time and I was very tired of losing organs. I had too much stripped away. (I thought) when was this going to stop?”
16 years cancer free
After spending the ‘90s trying to survive’, the former teacher enjoyed the next 16 years of her life cancer-free.
She married her now husband in 2003, celebrated the birth of her grandchildren, and travelled the world.
“I hardly ever thought about cancer. I was reminded of it every day in the bathroom because of my scars but it was something that was in my past.”
She continued her check-ups, where doctors started to say phrases like “remission” and “you’re cured”.
Then in 2015, she underwent a routine colonoscopy.
Despite “feeling fine” and experiencing no symptoms, doctors found a pelvic tumour the size of a tennis ball.
“The doctors were just absolutely mystified. They just said this is so random that it should pop up again,” she explained.
Mrs Dean underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy at the same time in what she describes as the “worst nine weeks” of her life.
“My husband said I was just a rag doll on the bed. All I could do was get up each day, struggle through the shower … go to the hospital, have the radiotherapy and back into bed. It was terrible.”
The treatment successfully killed the cancer, but it badly damaged her organs and left her needing a colostomy bag.
Last year, when Mrs Dean went to the hospital for a bowel blockage with her colostomy bag, doctors made another devastating discovery.
She had cancer growing on her left kidney.
“It was a huge shock,” she said. “But (my specialist) said ‘it’s not hard to tackle, we’re going to have to take your kidney out.’ It was a simple operation just to take that organ away.”
After surviving cancers and having a host of organs removed including her breasts, 26 lymph nodes, her uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, gallbladder and her left kidney, the 72-year-old is hopeful cancer won’t return.
“I pray that it will never come into my life again.
“But at the same time, I have to be practical and if it ever did, I know what to do. I know how to fight.”
Helping cancer research
Throughout it all, Mrs Dean has never displayed any symptoms.
In 2017, she decided to get tested for the BRCA gene mutation, which came back positive and and explained her first two breast cancers.
She is now helping others after agreeing to become a subject of cancer research.
“They’re looking for genes that they haven’t found yet, genetic faults that would allow these cancers to develop and that will be very helpful for future generations.”
Looking back, she credits her faith, family and positive mindset for helping getting her through. Although the latter has been tested at times.
“I’ve had times where I couldn’t stop crying. I’ve had times where I just was very jealous of everybody that’s got boobs … there were times where I just thought, what’s wrong with me that I can’t be like a normal woman?”
Having battled cancer on and off for three decades, she now appreciates how precious everyday life is.
“I think the best word to describe my whole attitude to life is gratitude,” she said.
“I feel that it’s been a miracle, I feel amazed. Every day has a sparkle.”
These days she enjoys her life with her husband, the five adult children they share between then and her 10 grandchildren – the oldest of whom is 17 and the youngest seven. She also spends her time taking part in public speaking and working as a funeral celebrant.
The 72-year-old wants others going through to cancer to remember the disease is an enemy to be beaten but you don’t have to be strong.
“Just be yourself. Be free to feel all the yuck feelings and to be angry if you feel angry. And just be yourself through all of us. You don’t have to be strong.”
“Say “yes” to every offer of help, (don’t) try to be independent.”
Mrs Dean reminds all Aussies to “appreciate your life” and remember to have regular check-ups.
“Cancer can be found through tests, through check-ups, through doctors keeping an eye on you. Don’t ignore those things, those resources that are available.”
Mrs Dean also encourages all Aussies to take part in Cancer Council Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea on Thursday, May 23.
This year, the charity is hoping to raise over $15 million, to fund research, prevention and support services for those affected by cancer.